Charles does it again! (Great Expectations - Charles Dickens)

Member Name: cricketfan1

Product:	Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Date:	30/11/08 (770 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Vivid Description

Disadvantages: None

A brilliant read I especially found chapter one to be very vivid - thus my review is based upon that.
The initial chapter is set in a churchyard of graves in the flat Essex marshes, through Pips narration we can envision the bleak threatening landscape. He uses a stream of negative adjectives such as "bleak", "dark" and "leaden" to portray how threatening the landscape is to him. The phrase "...dead and buried" details how the graveyard is inhabited by the dead meaning Pip feels isolated and alone. Pip depicts his location within a long periodic sentence of sixteen clauses, frequently punctuated with "and that". The phrase appears to mirror his thought processes and is comparable to how a young child would describe something. This allows the reader to be in the child's position as he looks out towards the "bleak" horizon and inwards again. Towards the conclusion of the chapter the repeated use of the word "horizontal" emphasizes the flatness of the landscape, making young Pip feel like he has nowhere to run or hide. The metaphor "savage lair" is particularly effective as a lair is an animal's home meaning this could be referring to Magwitch as an animal like person. By this point Pip is feeling vulnerable and helpless and his misery is compounded when he hears the terrible voice of Magwitch, the convict. The two upright objects, in this chapter, are symbolic, "the beacon" represents moral light and the gallows represent this being corrupted by moral ugliness. Consequently the simile "like a man whose legs were numbed and stiff" is used to describe Magwitch and connect him to death.


The initial chapter gives us a sense of the older wiser Pip retrospectively looking back at his youthful naivety. We can see family is important to Pip as he continually mentions his family and parents. "I gave Pirrip as my fathers family name" and "the letters on my fathers grave". The name Pip may have been chosen by Dickens, as the character is an undersized child much like the small seed found in the centre of a fruit, which will one day flourish and grow into something much bigger.
Throughout the book Pip exhibits a "gentlemanlike" politeness even at his tender age and to a fearful convict; Magwitch. Pip may only be a young, working class, boy but he exhibits exceptional language and manners throughout the novel often showing an adult speech pattern. Later in the novel Pip wants to become a gentleman.
It becomes clear by the way that Magwitch throws Pip about that he's physically weak and vulnerable. We also know due to Magwitch's comment, that he has fat cheeks, which makes Magwitch assume that he is well fed.

As soon as we meet Magwitch we discover he is no ordinary man. He has a "terrifying" voice and is described as a "fearful" man.
But we later see he is quite intelligent and strategic as he access's whether it is safe to talk to pip by asking the location of his parents.
Throughout their encounter he uses aggressive body language, he seizes Pip and tilts him over a tombstone to emphasize his point. He also frequently uses dark humor; the phrase "if you're kindly let to live" shows us he finds the whole situation of terrorizing Pip fun!
Magwitch truly terrifies young Pip by fabricating stories of how a man will "tear your heart and liver out" this once again illustrates his intelligence. He knows this is all but impossible but also realizes this will terrify Pip into carrying out the tasks that he has been set!
Even throughout this terrible ordeal Pip remains very gentleman like with his speech, even addressing Magwitch as "sir". The phrase "If you would kindly please to let me keep upright" shows us Pip is well educated and has superior manners.
Magwitch has a rough appearance and is a man that his been pushed to his limits he has "broken shoes", has been "soaked in water and stung by nettles" and "lamed by stones", demonstrating in the phrase that Magwitch is a determined survivor.
As soon as Magwitch finds out that Pip lives with the blacksmith he persuades Pip to bring him a blacksmiths file. This once again illustrates how strategic Magwitch can be!

Magwitch is astounded by Pips kindness and willingness to help him; he vows that he will one day repay him. Later he announces that he told himself if he ever had a guinea it would go to Pip. Later in the novel Magwitch serves his prison sentence in Australia and becomes a sheep farmer earning lots of money.

Magwitch uses his strategic thinking to channel the money to Pip in England via his lawyer, Jagger. The benefactors name is kept secret from Pip and he believes that it is Miss Havisham.




During the 19th Century money was crucial to everyone as it was connected with success, social class and respectability. Everyone wanted to be wealthy and those who were wealthy wanted to be the wealthiest.
At the beginning of the novel we realise that Pip is a very poor orphan, his parents have left him nothing. The convict, Abel Magwitch is even poorer, he is starving and being hunted down by the authorities for crimes, which he committed.

As the novel progress's Magwitch's situation dramatically changes and he acquires great wealth farming in Australia. He remembers how Pip helped him all that time ago when he was starving and alone. He lovingly decides to fund Pips education as a Gentleman, thereby making Pips dreams come true.
When Pip finds out he has a benefactor he is overjoyed, but when Pip comes into the money he rejects Joe and Biddy who loved him so dearly. This suggests that money has the power to corrupt. Another instance of money being used to corrupt is when Miss Havisham teases her relatives about what she will leave them when she dies. She again uses her money to corrupt when she funds Estella's education in which she educates her to hate men.
Pip believes that his education as a gentleman is being funded by Miss Havisham but he later discovers that Magwitch is his benefactor and this horrifies him.

Towards the end of the novel Pip is reconciled with Magwitch and sees the errors he has made. He realises he has mistreated Joe and Biddy and decided to live on less money which he realises will ultimately make him happier.

Summary: Superb read... must have!